Sheet-separating apparatus.



" A; B. DICK? APPVLIYUATION FILED MAY 10, 1904.

IINVENTIOR' ATTORNEY 'PATENTBD JIJINE 19, 1906. SHEET SEPARATING APPARATUS.

No. 823335. I v PATENTED JUNE; 19, 1906.

, A. B. DICK." A

SHEET SEPAR'ATING" APPARATUS. APPLIGATION FILED MAY 10, 1994.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

VgI TNES SES:

I ,l A A ANVENTOR A I A fzaz/flw W ATTORNEY No. 823,935. I PA'IENTED JUNE 19, 1906.

v A. B. DICK. 4

SHBET SEPARATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION 2112213 MAY 10, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

n H" f 1 i 'INVENTORI WITNESSES I 1% I, I I I ATTORNEY I. UNITED STATES;

PATENT. oFFIoE.

ALBERT DICK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 'Assienon To, A. BQDIOK; COMPANY, QFCH ICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

SH E ET-S'EPARATlNG APPARATUS.

No. 2523.935. j

To aLZ whom it may c onc ern':

.Be'it known that I, A BERT'B. DIoK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

have'inv'ented a certain new and juseful Im.

may be supported upon a suitable bed in juxtaposition to the separating devices. Also. in such a preferred form as, forinstahce, that form in which the apparatus ispecul iarly adapted for use in conjunction with a folding-machinerthe sheet may be buckled at a point intermediate of its ends and thus fed to the connected,apparatus after being. separated b I the meqhanlsm' herein described from the pi e. I

Broadly, the invention comprehends the use of a bed or other support for the sheet pile, a rotating separator-roll adapted to co aot successively with the lowermost sheets of the pile, and a retarding roll or rolls, also coacting successively with the lowermost sheets of the pile and opposing any tendency.

there may be towardt e separation of more thanone sheet at a time by theseparator The invention further includes, however, variousdevices and combinations of devices in add tlon/ to the broad subject-matter herein stated, which will be described in detail, and pointed out inthe claims. j

, The lnvention' is illustrated in the accom- 'panying drawings, in which' V Figure 1 1s a top plan view illustrating the invention. Fig. '2 is 'avertica'l section on the line 2 2, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3is an inverted plan view of the sheet-pile-suppbrting bed'and. a porfiionwof the mechanism coacting ,therewit i 1 separating apparatus in conjunction with a Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May 10, 1904. Serial No. 207,286.

Patented June 19,1906.

folding machine; but since the latter does not form part of theinvention designed to becovered by the present application the same will not be, described in detail beyond-reference to the fact that the same'is hereshown as including feed-rolls A B, pressing and passing rolls C .D, vertical folding-rolls and guideways carried by'the brackets E, and a delivery stack or wa F,-into which the sheets are 'fed after being olded. I

.Referring now more in detail to the sheetseparating apparatus, this is here shown as mounted upon a frame G, which may be con- -'venientl located over the folding or rin'ting mec anism to which it is designe that I the sheets shall be fed; H designates the bed upon which the sheet pile it may be laid.

Adjustably secured upon this bed are end guides h h andside guides k h b h. i said side guides may, 1f desired, be adjustable, as are the end guides hf h?, or but two of said side guides (as', for instance,'the guides k h") may be adjustable. The function. of these All of guides is to determine the proper position of I the sheet pile. I designates a presserplate,

here shown in the form of a casting of some weight, hinged by means of the screws 'L in vertical grooves i, formed 'in the internalfaces of cars 13, secured to and re ecting upwardly from'the bed Sai resser-plate isprovided with'bifurcate extensions J J, having slots j formed inthe ends thereof, through which slots project screws 7",carrying presser-bar 7' said bar being therefore adjustable longitudinally. ofthe machine. A

slot 9' is formed in said presser bar j t, 4eceivethe 'upwardl -extend1ng end gui eh The presserlate is also pro'vided-intermediate its e'n s (at-a-point where in the aris here described thersheets are buckled' reliminarfy to the folding operation) wit a. second Presser-bar K, and, 1f desired, the under faces of both the resser-bars and K may be surfaced with rubber. Sail barIK is loosely mounted in a recess (see'Fig. 2) in the "under side of. the presser-plate I, eing held in position by screws-k, l designate uide-.

, wa s su ported and guided by'crossa'r- Z In the drawings, as will be seen, I have for and ear l carried by the presser-bar j and the screws k k, said ways being provided tend. Q erating'u o'nsaid ways I l is an.

adjustab e -w'ei ght 'ticular embodiment of the invention w 'ch] with slots 1, through which such screws exhere shown as made said ways by means of a screw 1. 'By

means of this adjustable weight the ressure upon the sheet pile may be regu ated at will. If desired, the under surface of the resser-plate 1, near its hinged end and where it comes in contact with the sheet pile, may be surfaced, as at 4?, with rubber. The bed H, intermediate of its ends and in the present instance nearer to the-forward end than to the rearward end, is. provided with an openin in which are located a sepa= rator-roll M and an idler-roll N, bothmounted in the frame G, and said separator-roll receiving power from any suitable sourceas, for instance, by means of a connection through the pinion-n with a source of power utilized in the mechanism in conjunction with which the separating apparatus is employed. For example, in the present instance, power is transmitted by the hand-wheel O to the shaft of the pressing and passing roll 0, said shaft being proovided with a pinion 0, meshreliable contact with the sheet pile.

mg with a pinion 0, driving the feed-roll B, the shaft of said pinion 0 driving an idler-pin- 1011, (not shown,) with which meshes said pinion-n on the shaft of the separator-roll M.

Said separator-roll M is preferably provided with a acket or cover of rubber or other suitable material fluted longitudinally to assure ripheries of the separator-roll M and idlerroll N are about level with the surface of the bed H, and said seplarator-roll is preferably so positioned as to 'e almost directly under (but slightly rearward of) the presser-bar K.

Said separator-roll is prefer-ably provided with a clutch m, permitting said roll to rotate only in one (operative) direction. P designates a shaft the inner end whereof isjournaled in an ear p depending from the under side of the bed H, its outer end being journaled in the frame G and provided outside such frame with a pinion driven in any suitable manner coincident y with the pinion of the separator-roll. A convenient means of ac'complishing this is to permit the pinion p to mesh with the idler-pinion, (not shown,) through which power is transmitted to the pinipn 'n, of said separator-roll. Carried by said shaftP is aworm 1%, which meshes with a worm p carried by a shaft P the latter being supported in ahearing-lug p depending from the under side of the bed H adjacent to the ear p, and a similar bearinglug p ,-both said lugs depending from the under side of the bed H. R designates a crossshaft supported at its ends in the bracket 1',-

and provided with a worm r, meshing with the worm-r carried by said shaft P. Upon. said shaft R is mounted a retarding-roll which coactswith the under side of the sheet pile, the movement of said roll being such as to exert a tendency to draw the lowermost sheet of such pile away from the separator- The pe-- roll M. Such roll may be continuous from .end to' end or sectional, as desired. In the present instance I have shown the latter form the roll comprising sections r r", having fluted peripheries (preferably of rubber) and operating throughopenings r in the bed H.

supported at its inner endby the ear 8, dc-

pending from the under side of said bed and at its outer end by a bearing in the frame G; Such outer end of the shaft may also be provided with inion s, to which power may be transmitted coincidently with that transmitted to the pinion n of the separator-roll M by suitable intermediate pinions, which for clearness are omitted from the drawings. Said shaft S carries a worm 8 which meshes with a worm 8 carried by a stub-shaft mounted in a bearing formed in the bracket 8", secured to the-under side of the bed H. T designates a cross-shaft similar to the cross-shaft R, the same being provided with a worm whereby rotary movement is transmitted to said crossshaft from'the worms stand 8 and the shaft S. Like the cross-shaft R, the cross-shaft T is here shownas provided with sectional rolls 1. t, the fluted rubber-covered peripheries whereof operate through openings t in the bed H. It will thus be seen that by means of suitable gear connections with a common source of power-as, for instance, the main pinion othe separator-roll M and V the retarding-rolls on either side thereof are ing-rolls, therefore, exert at all times a tendency to maintain the lowermost sheet of the pile in a truly horizontal plane, resisting such tendencyas there may be upon the separation of the lowermost sheet to take with it in its separation from the under side of the pile the sheet lying next above the same;

v The operation of the separator-roll M over coming the pressure exerted by the retarding roll or rolls upon the shaft R draws the lowermost sheet from the pile and buckling the same between it and the idler-roll N passes the same downwardly until it is gripped by such othermechanism as may be employed below said separator-roll-sis, for instance,

the feed-rolls A B. When the buckled por- IIO , tarding-rolls durin until said lowermost sheet has been separated, whereupon the roll M immediately coa'cts and passed to the mechanism, by means whereof it is to b'e'further acted upon, therethis 0 erationmaintaining the remaining s 'eets o the pile ina truly horizontal lane and resisting the tendency toward muftiple separation above referred to with the next lowermostsheet, operating upon the samein the manner just described.

support a pile "of "sheets ina substantially.

relation to said openin hor1zontalp'lane,-of an 0 ening in said bed, a

sheetseparating-device ocated in operative" and coacting with the under side of said pile to buckle a sheet and feed the same downwardly therefrom, the buckled ortion in advance, and a-rvetard ing roll or r0 ls on one side of said device, substantially as setforth. Y

'2. In sheet-separating apparatus, the combination with a bedjadapted to receive and support a pile of sheets in substantially the same plane, of an o ening in said bed nearer to one end thereof t an to the other, a sheetseparating; device located in operative relation to saidopenin and coacting with the underside of said pile to buckle a sheet and feed the same downwardly therefrom, the

buckled portion inadvan'ce, and a. retarding roll or rolls on oneside of said sheet-separating device; substantially as set forth.

s rolls on one side of said'device and o erating in openings in said-bed, substantial y as set 3. In sheet-separating apparatus, the combination witha bed adapted to receive a'pile of sheets, of an opening in "said bed, a sheetseparating device located in operative rela tion to said opening, and "a retarding'roll or forth. 4. In sheet-se arating apparatus, the cornbination with a ed adapted to receive a-pile relation to said 0 enin'g, anda retarding roll 1 set .forth;

of sheets, of an opening in said bed, a rotaryl sheet-separating device located inoperative.

or rolls on one si e." of said device and o erat ing in openings in :said: bed, substantia 1y as 5; In sheet-ses'arating ap aratus, the come d adapted to receive a pile of sheets and provlded with an opening nearer lating in: openings in "set i to one end of said-bedthan to the other, of a sheet-separating device located inoperative v, relation to said-opening, and a rotary retard- 4 mg roll or rolls on one side 'of said device, and

'operatingin 'openings; i n saidb'ed, substantially as set forth.

6. In sheet -se%aratiiigapparatus,the com bination with a ed adapted to receive a pile of sheets and provided with'an opening, of a sheet-separating device located in o erative relation to said openin and a retar ing roll .or' rolls on both sides 0 .tially as set forth. 1

7. ,In Sheet-sepprating apparatus, the com-- bination with a ed adapted to receive a pile of sheets and provided with an opening, ofa

rotary sheet 'separating'devi'ce located 1n operative'rela'tion to said opening, and a retarding) roll or rolls on bothsides of said device, su stantially as set forth. 7 i

'8. In sheet-se arating ap aratuathecombinationavith a bed adapted ofsheets and provided-with an open1ng,fof a sheet-separating device located in operative relation to said opening, and a retarding roll or rolls on both sides 0 said device map e said bed, substantially as forth. v

9. In sheet-separating apparatus, the combination with a bed-adapted to receive a pile ofisheets and provided with an opening, of a rotary sheet-separating device located in dperative relation to said opening, and a retardingroll or rolls on both sides of said device and operating in openings; in said bed, substantially as setforth.

10. In sheet-separatin combination with-"a bed a apted. to receive a sheet ile, of a separating device, and .a

hinge .presser-plate coacting withsaid sheetpile the hinge thereof being vertically ad ustable, substantially as set forth.-

I 11. In sheet-separating apparatus,- the combination with abed adapte to. receive a sheet pileand to sup ort the same immovably as a whole, of a s 1 eet-separating'device operating in -a fixed position relativelyto said 'bed, a resser-plate, and an adjustable said device, substan tb receive a pile 7 IOO ' apparatus, the I Weight carried by said presser-plate and hav-' 'ing a clamping device, said Presser-plate and weight coacting with? the uppersurface of 1 said sheet pile, substantially as set forth.-

\12; In sheet-separating ap aratus, the combination with a bed ada te to support a sheet pile in a substantially orizonta .a sheet-separating device adapted to buckle and pass a sheet downwardly from said pile,

plane,

the buckled portion in'advance, and sheet-re tarding mechanism operating in substantraflly the same plane-as said device, of means for applyin pressure stantial y as set fort upon said sheet pile, sub- -13.- In sheet se' aratm ap aratus the.

M ted v i combination with'a bed I p to su porta v sheet'pi'leinasubstantially; orizonta plane pass them therefrom, and sheet-retarding mechanism also underlying said pile and coacting by frictional contact first with the lowermost sheet of said pile as the same is acted upon by said sheet-separating device and then with the next adjacent sheet while the movement of the sheet first named is being completed by said device, substantially as set forth. 1

15. In sheet-separating apparatus, the

' combination with a bed, of a sheet-separating device, retarding-rolls on either side thereof and means for operating the same in a direction away from said separating device, and means for exerting downward pressure upon a sheet pile placed on said bed, substantially as set forth. 1

16. In sheet-separating ap aratus, the combination with a bed, of a s eet-separating device, retarding-rollsv on either side thereof and means for operating the same in a direction away from said separating device, a pressure device mounted abovesaid bed and adapted to coact with the sheet pile thereon, and means for varying the degree of pressure of said device, substantially as set forth.

17. In sheet-separating apparatus, the combination with. a stationary bed, of guides thereon for centering a sheet pile placed on said bed, and a separating device operating in a substantially fixed position and constantly in the same direction and located nearer to one end of said bed than to'the other, said separating device coacting with the under side of "said sheet pile to buckle and separate a sheet therefrom and to feed such sheet, the buckled portion thereofin advance, substantially as set forth.

18. In sheetseparating apparatus, the

combination with a stationary bed, of guides thereon, and a separator-roll operating in a substantially fixed position and in one direction only through an o ening in said bed'and coacting with the un er side of a sheet pile upon said bed to buckle and separate a sheet therefrom and to feed the same, the buckled portion in advance, substantially as set forth.

19. In sheet-separating apparatus, the combination with a bed provided with guides and having an opening, of a se arator-roll and an idler-roll operating throng said opening and coacting with a sheet pile arranged on said bed to buckle and separate a sheet therefrom and to feedthe same, the buckled portion in advance, substantially as set forth.

20. In sheet-separating apparatus, the combination with a bed adapted to support a sheet pile in a plane parallel with said bed, of a rotary sheet-separating device operating in one direction only and in a substantially fixed position to buckle the lowermost sheets of said pile successively, and means subjacent to said device for coaction with the buckled portion of sheets-passed to said means by said device, substantially as set forth.

21.' In sheet-separating apparatus, the

the under side of said sheet pile, and movable sheet-retarding mechanism operating in unison with said separator-roll, said mechanism and said roll underlying said ile and coacting with the under side thereo through openingsin said bed, substantially as set forth.

"This specification signed and witnessed this 3d day of May, .1904.

ALBERT B. DICK. Witnesses:

S. 0. EDMONDS, W. G. ARNOLD. 

